Too much stress
by pmsdevil01
Summary: Ted gets sick from stress and Barney takes care of him. No slash. My first How I Met Your Mother story so be kind.


The five friends were all sitting around Ted and Robin's apartment worried about Ted. Ted had been suffering from awful headaches for a week and the group was concerned for his health. He kept trying to convince them that he was fine but his body spoke the truth every time he winced from another wave of pain and started suffering from severe nose bleeds that became so troublesome that he turned pale and had dizzy spells. It was getting to the point that Marshall threatened to drag Ted to the hospital but Ted kept avoiding the issue. Ted finally got fed up with being stared at so he decided he was going to go for a walk. He jumped up from his seat and said. "I'll be back, I need some air." The group started to protest when Ted swayed by the door and tried to brace himself with one hand on the wall. Luckily Marshall was quick and ran over and caught his friend before he could hit the floor. Everyone ran to Ted's side and gasped when they noticed the blood pouring from Ted's nose. Marshall gently tapped Ted's cheek in an attempt to wake his friend, while Lily called an ambulance. Robin just stood their, frozen while Barney helped Marshall lower Ted gently to the floor and check his pulse. Lily finished her call, ran to the bathroom to grab a towel and ran back to wipe the blood from Ted's face. Finally the medics arrived and loaded Ted onto a gurney and headed down to the ambulance. The one medic asked if someone would be riding with them and Marshall didn't hesitate to jump in the back and grab Ted's hand. The rest of the group grabbed a taxi and followed behind each focused on their own thoughts of Ted.

They arrived at the hospital and quickly found out where Ted's room was. They found Marshall sitting on a chair outside the door staring at a spot on the floor. Lily rushed over to lend her husband some comfort. Barney was the first to speak. "How is he?" Marshall sighed and looked around at his family while they watched him waiting for an answer. Finally he took a deep breathe and stood up to address them.

"The doctor said Ted's suffering from high blood pressure and that's been the cause of his headaches and nose bleeds. He said Ted probably passed out from the blood loss and his body just couldn't take the stress anymore. He also said he'll know more after they run some more tests." Then Marshall ushered them all to the waiting room and sat down next to Lily. They all just sat there and waited for what seemed like a lifetime when the doctor finally emerged from Ted's room. The group stood to greeted the doctor and then stayed silent, hanging on to the doctors every word.

"Alright I finished the tests and there's nothing dire to worry about at the moment. I am however very worried about Mr. Mosbys' blood pressure. It is dangerously high and even though he's not at risk right now there is a chance he could suffer a stroke in the future if he doesn't get this under control."

The group let the doctors words sink in and then they all asked in unison. "What can we do?"

They ignored Barney when he said "We need to get him laid. That'll knock the stress right out of him." The doctor smiled and looked around at the small group. "Mr. Mosby is lucky to have such a caring group of friends. First I'm going to make it clear that he is not going to get laid. Since that is now clear I am going to order strict bed rest for at least a week, two if his condition has not changed. Someone will need to be with him at all times to monitor his blood pressure and to be there in case he passes out again. If he does bring him back in immediately. Also, I am going to make a list of foods to stay away from and prescribe a couple pills that should help. One will help regulate his blood pressure and the other will help him relax if he gets to worked up. I only want him getting up to use the restroom and to shower, other then that I would prefer someone be there to help him prepare meals and try to keep him as stress free as possible. I do not want him working at all so I'm going to give you a signed note so his job is not at risk. Now, who is going to be with him so I can tell the nurse who to give the paper work to?"

Each member of the little family looked around to see who was going to volunteer. Marshall of course wanted to but he wasn't sure if G 'n' B would let him take the time off. Lily was thinking the same thing, but was sure she could get some one to substitute her class. Robin wanted to help but part of her was to scared that she would screw it up so she stayed silent. Barney was the only one confident in his ability to take care of one of his best bro's.

"I'll do it. It's easier for me to take the week off and I can have the spare bedroom set up for him." The doctor nodded and told them they can go visit Ted before walking away to start the paper work. The four friends made their way into the room and all took seats around their friends bed.

Marshall looked at Ted and thought he looked so small and weak compared to how up beat and full of life he normally was. Marshall considered Ted his brother, so he took his brothers hand and gently squeezed it. "You better wake up soon buddy." Lily was the next one to grab Teds hand and tell him to wake up so they can take him home. Robin just brushed her fingers through his hair but stayed silent. Barney placed his hand on Teds shoulder and said. "You're gonna love staying at the Barnacle's house bro. It's gonna be legen' wait for it dary'. So you better wake up soon so our week of awesome can start." They all sat around and talked for about an hour before the nurse walked in and gave Barney the papers he needed to take care of Ted. After staying for another hour Lily, Robin and Marshall all had to leave to get ready for work the next morning. Leaving Barney to watch over Ted. He was just sitting beside the bed watching tv when he heard Ted shift. He turned the tv off and grabbed Teds wrist hoping Ted would feel his hand and open his eyes. Thankfully he did and Barney breathed a sigh of relief when Ted looked at him and asked. "What's going on?"

"You're in the hospital bro, you scared the crap out of all of us. But you're going to be ok. Just take it easy and I'll fill you in." So Barney filled Ted in on what happened and told him that he would be staying with him until he was better. Barney had just finished talking when Ted fell back to sleep. Barney just smiled and went back to watching what ever boring sitcom was on.

Ted was released from the hospital the next morning and Barney brought him back to his apartment. Ted really didn't want to be there but saw how concerned Barney was and gave in to being treated like a piece of glass, for now anyway. Ted followed Barney to the spare room and laid down on the bed. He felt weak and wanted nothing more then to just sleep the next week of his life away, but had a feeling Barney was not going to make it that easy for him. Barney left him alone and Ted heard him making noise in the kitchen and coiled at the thought of having to eat. His stomach did not like that thought at all and was determined to avoid eating at all costs. Thirty minutes went by and Ted was falling asleep when Barney pushed the door open and placed a tray of food on the bed and went to help Ted sit up. Ted decided to voice his protest. "Barney, this looks great and I appreciate you doing this considering I'm probably the only person you've made breakfast for since you and Robin, but I'm really not hungry." Ted tried to move the food away from himself when his suited friend stopped him.

"Ted, I promised the group that I would take care of you and that requires you eating solid food. So man up and eat cause these pills you have to take are going to screw you up if you have an empty stomach and I really don't like the thought of you puking all over the room and my extremely expensive bed set." Barney put the fork in Teds hand and waited for him to take a bite. Realizing he wasn't going to be left alone until he ate, Ted gave up the fight and ate the food Barney prepared for him. He had to admit as much as he didn't want to eat, the food was pretty good. Barney was gifted in the kitchen, he just never used that particular talent because the only guests he ever had over were never there long enough to eat breakfast. Barney took the tray, gave Ted his pills and left him to rest.

The next time Ted woke up he got up and used the bathroom. When he got out he walked past his room and into the living room to discover he was alone in the apartment. Figuring Barney went out to run some errands Ted figured this would be a great chance for him to take a walk and enjoy some fresh air. He knew Barney wouldn't like it very much but he wasn't to worried. He figured he would be back before Barney even knew he was missing. So Ted got changed, grabbed Barney's spare key and ventured outside.

Barney walked into the apartment and set his bags down on the counter and started to put everything away when he noticed his spare key was missing and ran into Teds room to find it empty. He started to panic and called Marshall, telling him about their missing friend. Marshall told him to stay calm and that they would help find Ted. Barney was about to hang up and start searching himself when the door opened and Ted walked in. He quickly told Marshall that he was back and hung up the phone. "Ted tell me you at least risked your health to go to a strip club and get some naughty librarian action."

Ted gave him a look of disgust and said. "Ew, no. I just went for a walk and my health is fine. So it's all good." Ted hung his coat, put his shoes on the mat by the door and sat down on the couch. He looked at his friend and couldn't decipher the look on his face. It looked like a mix between shock, anger and concern. Ted was actually starting to worry that his friend was going to explode any second. "Barney you ok? You look like on of your conquests just told you she's pregnant." Ted chuckled, trying to relieve the tension. He knew Barney would be mad but he never expected this.

Barney's mind was reeling. Ted was lucky his condition wasn't worse then it was and he had the nerve to say it's all good. Barney couldn't take it. "Ted, you may not understand how serious this is but that's because you didn't have to be the one sitting next to your hospital bed scared that you might not wake up or that you might have a stroke. We've been worried sick for weeks over you and you say it's all good. Now I know that you think I'm invincible and nothing can hurt you when the Barnacles around but this is different. This isn't like your failures with women. I can't just fix this with a game of have you met Ted. This is serious and if you don't start listening to me your going to end up back in the hospital." Barney watched Teds face to see what reaction his friend was going to give. 

Ted thought about what Barney just said and smiled. "Thanks for caring this much dude. Means a lot. I'll take it easy. Now where's my phone I want to check my messages." Barney smiled and handed Ted his phone and left to take a shower. Ted was listening to a message from G 'n' B and was ok until he heard the next part. "Mosby, Stinson told us what happened and said you would be out of work for at least a week. Well I don't accept that. I don't give a damn what's wrong with you. Get you ass into work or you're fired!" Ted turned off the message and was overwhelmed with a blinding panic. "I'm gonna be fired" Ted immediately began to think of a way to get to work without endangering his life and pissing Barney off. So he did what he normally did when brain storming, he started pacing across the room. He was pacing for what felt like 20 minutes when he started to feel kind of dizzy and felt something wet on his face, but he knew he had to think of something fast so he pushed the feeling aside for as long as he could. Ted couldn't resist long and after ten more minutes his body finally gave in and the last thing he heard was someone screaming his name and it all went black.

Barney was getting dressed after his shower and just couldn't stop smiling. "_I finally got through to Ted." _Barney thought to himself. He then swung the bathroom door open releasing the steam into the hallway. He headed to the living room to check on Ted and was shocked at what he saw. Ted pacing back and forth and looking completely freaked out. Barney finally made his body move and he walked closer to Ted and when he was about two feet away he noticed Teds nose bleeding and his friends pale skin. He went to put a stop to his friends frantic pacing when Ted stopped mid step and collapsed to the ground. Barney screamed his name and rushed forward to attempt to catch him. He caught Ted and laid him on the ground. He tried to wake his unconscious friend but had no luck. So, he called 911 and explained what happened. After he hung up he noticed Teds phone was on the floor next to his hand. He picked it up and listened to the voice mail. After it ended Barney looked at Ted and felt a rush of anger. Ted had to go back to the hospital because he boss was a dick. The medics got there and Barney felt deja vu when they loaded Ted on the gurney.

Barney called the group from the hospital, they all rushed over and greeted Barney in Teds room. Ted was just waking up when they all arrived. Barney told Ted not to worry about his job and then told them he was going to G 'n' B to talk to the boss. After Barney left, Marshall started talking to Ted. "What the hell are you trying to do to us dude. We can't keep making trips to the hospital like this."

Ted looked at them and said. "I know, I'm really sorry. I was sitting on the couch trying to relax, then that message just ruined it. I can't lose this job guys, this is my dream. What am I going to do." He started to panic, then Lily sat on the bed and started brushing his hair.

Lily knew how to calm Ted so when she saw him start to panic, she took action. "Ted, I know this job is your dream but it's not worth risking your health for. Besides Barney is there right now taking care of it and if they do fire you, Marshall will sue them. Right baby?" Marshall just smiled and nodded. His friends reassuring words and the comforting feel of her fingers through his hair made Ted calm and relaxed. The nurse came in a few minutes later and Ted signed the release form.

After he got dressed and was ready to leave he asked Lily and Marshall to give him a minute alone with Robin. Once the couple left he turned to his silent friend and said. "Robin, I know you're freaked out over this but I'm going to be fine. You have to talk eventually." Robin looked at him and gave him a half smile.

"I know but, you really scared me this time. I really didn't know what was going to happen and that freaked me out. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes and tried to compose herself when she felt two arms wrap around her and hold her. She hugged Ted back and they stayed that way for a few minutes then broke apart and went to find their friends.

They brought Ted back to Barneys and Marshall called Barney to let him know where they were and Barney said he would be there as soon as he can. So the gang hung out in the living room until Ted started leaning on Lily's shoulder in an attempt to fall asleep. Marshall half carried his smaller friend to the room and placed him on the bed. Lily covered him up, kissed him on the cheek and wished him sweet dreams. Robin did the same and then they all went back to the living room to wait for Barney. He finally got home and told the gang that everything was fine and explained how he threatened to sue G 'n' B if they even thought about firing Ted. So, they all hung out for a few hours, each checking on Ted before leaving. They all left and Barney was alone. So he went into Teds room and checked his friends pulse, once he was sure Ted was fine he went to leave but Teds voice stopped him. "I'm fired aren't I?"

Barney looked at Ted and sat down on the bed beside him. "Bro, come on. Do you really think I would let them fire you. I'm your best friend. I just told them that if they fire you that they would lose the amazing Barnacle and that fixed everything. So nothing to worry about." Ted smiled and went back to sleep. Barney fixed the blankets and left Ted to his dreams.

The week went by fast and it was time for Ted to go home. Barney opened the door to Teds apartment and helped his friend to the couch. Ted was mumbling that he was fine and could walk on his own but didn't reject Barneys help. Sinking into his own couch made Ted happy. He was finally home. He was feeling much better, the week he spent at Barneys seemed to help him relax. Now he was ready to be in his own apartment again. Barney was reluctant to bring him home today, still not convinced his friend was ready to be on his own but Ted wouldn't back down. So, he gave in but decided he was going to hang out for a while just in case Ted changed his mind. So they hung out all day until Ted stretched out on the couch and started drifting in and out of consciousness. Barney threw a blanket over him and quietly left the apartment. Feeling happy that his friend was going to be ok and that he still had his wing man.


End file.
